New care home "state of the art"

3:22pm Wednesday 19th November 2008

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A SPECIALIST care home providing care for the vulnerable elderly has opened its doors to residents.

Icknield Court in Princes Risborough, a home dedicated to helping those with dementia and high care needs, has been accepting people from two other Buckinghamshire care homes.

The site in Berryfield Road has 90 rooms in six 15 room houses, and features a shop, a bar, a hairdressing salon and two safe, courtyard style gardens.

The houses have sitting rooms, dining rooms and kitchens and each bedroom has an en-suite shower room.

Clare Gajeckyj from The Fremantle Trust, the charity which runs the home, said: “It's beautiful – it's like a four star hotel.

“The people who are moving in are moving in from two of our other homes. A few weeks ago they came to see it and were amazed and quite excited and were really looking forward to moving in.”

The new residents are moving from the old Icknield Court home in Wycombe Road, Princes Risborough, and from Maple Court in Watlington Road, Chesham.

They will be given a chance to settle in before more spaces become available in the new year.

Half of the rooms have been bought by Buckinghamshire County Council to provide social care for the elderly. The other half are set aside for private residents.

Mike Colston, council cabinet member for adult social care, said: “It's extremely good news.

“Icknield Court is the second in a series of eight new care homes with on site facilities that will be state of the art for older people, people with dementia and people with learning disabilities that have to have some sort of residential care.

“It's the result of several years of extremely hard work to put this together.”

The home has been funded by the Housing Solutions Group, a company that provides affordable housing.

According to The Fremantle Trust, demand for residential care is set to skyrocket.

At the 2001 census there were 8,878 people aged over 85 in Buckinghamshire; the trust predicts that this will rise to 17,756 by 2027.

To cope with demand, two major Bucks care homes are being built in Downley Heights, High Wycombe, and in Wing, near Aylesbury.

These are scheduled to open in the spring and summer of 2009.